It mostly covers my work as UNISON Scotland's Head of Policy and Public Affairs although views are my own. For full coverage of UNISON Scotland's policy and campaigns please visit our web site. You can also follow me on Twitter. I hope you find this blog interesting and I would welcome your comments.

Thursday, 12 January 2017

A new approach to public service reform

Since
the publication of the Christie Commission report five years ago, public sector
reform has been largely piecemeal and driven by austerity cuts. The debate can
also drift into a contest between localism and centralism. In a paper for the
Reid Foundation, I argue for a holistic approach to reform with services built
upwards from integrated local delivery, while recognising that in a small
country there is an important role for the centre.

The
paper starts by making the case for public services as the measure of a
civilised society, but also as the basis of a more equitable society and a
stronger economy. I then describe the many challenges facing Scotland’s public
services – primarily financial, but also the impact of our deeply unequal
society and demographic change.

The
public service workforce has often been an afterthought in service reform. This
is a serious oversight given that workers, directly or indirectly employed, are
central to service delivery. I describe the impact of austerity on the workforce
and how a new approach, built around a national workforce framework, could
avoid unnecessary duplication and support integration.

Scotland’s
approach to public service reform has taken a different route to the rest of
the UK since devolution. I describe the various initiatives including the
Christie Commission report and its patchy implementation. Reforms elsewhere are
also covered, along with ideas generated by academics and think tanks across
the UK and in Europe.

A
new approach to public service reform has to be based on a set of underlying
principles. I suggest nine principles (see infographic) that all reform
proposals should be tested against.

How
we finance public services is a crucial issue. This involves difficult
discussions around taxation, now that we have significant devolved powers. It
includes a better understanding of what we mean by universalism and the
importance of preventative spending. Local taxation also needs radical reform,
not further tinkering. We also need a new approach to funding capital investment,
away from ruinously expensive PPP schemes.

Most
reform measures start with central government and then consider what powers to
devolve. I propose an alternative approach that starts with recognisable
communities and builds service delivery from the bottom up. Community hubs
could physically site services together, breaking down the silo mentality that
Christie identified. Service design would be done with citizens and front line
staff adopting ideas from Systems Thinking, The Enabling State, Participatory
Budgeting and Co-operative councils. This would then form the basis for a
debate on the best structure for local government, the NHS and services
delivered by national bodies, ensuring democratic accountability.

Where
I differ with pure localism is in advocating an important role for central
government - not in directing service delivery from the centre, but focusing on
strategic outcomes. I would even go somewhat further than that. In a country
the size of Scotland there is no value in unnecessary duplication and
difference for the sake of it. National frameworks would allow local services
to focus on service design without reinventing the wheel. A national workforce
framework is a good example of this, possibly leading to the concept of a
single public service worker.

The
scale of the challenges facing public services in Scotland is immense. If they
were challenging five years ago when the Christie Commission reported, they are
even more so now. This paper argues that there is balanced approach to reform
in a small country. We do that by building public services from the bottom up
based on the principle of subsidiarity, with integration, democracy and
transparency at the core of delivery. The role of central government should be
to set the strategic direction and agree frameworks that allow the local to
focus on what matters.

I
don’t expect everyone to agree with all I say in what is not a short read! I
also accept that the solutions need further development. However, I hope it’s a
helpful contribution to the debate that attempts to identify solutions to the
challenges facing our vital public services.

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About Me

I am the Head of Policy and Public Affairs at UNISON, Scotland’s largest trade union.
I am a Board member at the Reid Foundation and Keir Hardie Society. Secretary of the Socialist Health Association Scotland. Past Chair of the Scottish Labour Party and SEC member.
Graduate in Law from University of Strathclyde. Fellow of the RSA.
I edit Utilities Scotland and Pensions Scotland and also regularly blog at Public Works, Red Paper, SHA Scotland and Revitalise Scottish Labour.